If you've been in any trendy little home good shops this season you have no doubt seen that the expensive velvet pumpkins made their return for fall 2014. And you've no doubt noticed that people are selling these damn things for at least $30 a pop, which is absurd.
Probably five years ago, when they first started to show up in shops, my mom and sister urged me to make them. But, I was in grad school, I was busy, and I had no place to put a velvet pumpkin. Now, though, I've got tons of time, and tons of space, and other people have already worked out the kinks and mastered the DIY velvet pumpkin.
So, following the
instructions from House of Hawthornes, I gathered my supplies.
1/3 yard brown velvet
2/3 yard yellow crushed velvet
1/2 yard green crushed velvet
1 lb. white beans
poly fil
9
pumpkin stems (pie/sugar pumpkins work well for small ones, I also snagged some from the bottom of the pumpkin boxes in front of various stores that had broken off pumpkins that had already sold)
hard core glue (I've seen E6300 recommended, I used Locktite Clear Instant Power Grab)
needle and thread
Total cost (including pumpkins, which I ate) was about $30 and made 4 small, 3 medium and 2 large pumpkins
For a small pumpkin (like the brown one in the photo), cut a 12" circle out of the velvet. I used a dinner plate to measure, then added an inch all the way around. The larger the circle, the larger the pumpkin. The largest I made was a 24" circle for the largest yellow pumpkin.
Hand baste around the edge of the circle with 2 thickness of thread. One strand of thread will break and you'll have to do it twice. Double up your thread or use "craft and button" thread.
Gather around your basting. Toss about 1/2 cup of beans into the bottom, then fill with poly-fil. Pull thread tightly and knot at the top.
Remove stems from pumpkins (you better eat those pumpkins, by the way) and glue to the top over the hole.
Stand back and admire your pumpkins, realizing that in 20 minutes you made a pumpkin patch for under the cost of one of these things from the store, you know, because you're awesome like that.
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